


A Hero Buried Within A Heart

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adult Hermione, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dark Magic, Death Eaters, Duelling, Escape, Eventual Romance, F/M, Female Protagonist, Fights, Heroism, Ministry of Magic, Redeemed Draco, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-03-20 10:28:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3646902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I will never be a hero."<br/>"You are mine."</p><p>After the war, the Malfoys hold Hermione hostage in hope of blackmailing the Ministry into sparing them. Draco struggles between the temptation of freedom and doing the right thing. With a bounty on his head, he goes on the run with Hermione and start their journey together under fake identities. "You want me to live as a Muggle?" He demanded. </p><p>Meanwhile, Harry and Ron, now Aurors, try to track down the disappeared Hermione.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mudblood Captured

" – dumbest thing you could have ever done, Narcissa!"

"I had to do something! Did you think the other side would welcome us with open arms? I couldn't just sit back and – This will save Draco! This will save us!"

"You stupid woman." Lucius Malfoy's cold voice interrupted his wife quietly. "Do you realize what you have done? This will earn you a life sentence in Azkaban."

Narcissa Malfoy looked helplessly at her husband. The usual cold, haughty demeanor had left her. Her sleek blond hair fell from the elegant bun at the back of her head, making her look like a mad woman. Never had Lucius been this angry with her.

"I have a plan," She breathed, "We will return the girl as a sign of good faith– say that we found her unconscious– We will offer information on the Council – a-and the Ministry will spare us of our crimes."

Lucius's eyes were icy as they searched the face of the woman in front of him, "Have you been blinded with stupidity?" He asked, his voice dangerously quiet now, "The girl will talk. And the Ministry will take her word over ours any day. She is a part of Dumbledore's army. We are not."

"I can modify her memory," Narcissa's breaths were quick and shallow, "I can – "

"No." Lucius scowled. "Use your brain, Cissy. The first thing Potter and his little friends are going to do when they get the girl back is to check for signs of a Memory Charm. If they find out you tampered with her memory, there will be hell to pay. You know what they did to Roldolphus Lestrange after Bellatrix died."

Narcissa stifled a small sob at the mention of Bellatrix Lestrange's name. The loss of her elder sister is still painful to think about. And to think and she died in the hands of that short, plump, blood-traitor Weasley…

"Then what, Lucius?" She pleaded desperately, the flaws of her plan unraveling in front of her as she slowly realized the consequences, "What now? Should we tell the Council – "

"No!" Lucius hissed angrily. His hands closed upon Narcissa's forearm and squeezed until she gasped in pain, "We tell the Council nothing! They will kill her, and that will anger the other side! Do you think the Ministry will still have mercy on us if we kill Potter's best friend?"

Narcissa's hands trembled as she stared down at the still, unconscious figure lying on her living room floor. "Then we will pin her disappearance on someone else, and say we saved her. It will prove our loyalties!"

"And if they ask us to swear it under Veritaserum?"

Narcissa opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Across the room, silently pressing against the wall stood a pale, blond young man. His pointed face was expressionless as he took in what his parents were arguing about. It was futile, what they were trying to do. No Death Eater was going to escape the wrath of Azkaban and their horrendous guards. He scowled as he gripped his arm where the tattoo was in disgust. What did they hope to do with the captured girl? Hold her hostage until the Ministry agrees to give them immunity? Until Potter swoops in to save the day?

"The wisest thing we can do now is to bring her back to where you found her. Put a Confundus Charm on her so she doesn't know what happened. And hope that she doesn't remember your face." Lucius muttered to himself.

"She saw me," Narcissa whispered fearfully. "Before I stunned her, she saw me. She recognized me – "

Lucius let out an angry sound of exasperation. For a few minutess, none of them spoke.

Draco Malfoy rested his head on the wall behind him, trying not to worry about what's to come. There were dark circles under his tired eyes, and he looked older, a lot older, than a 22-year-old young man. His skin was pale and grey, giving him the impression of someone battling with a severe illness. His hairline was receding quite a bit, exposing the worry lines on his forehead. It has been nearly 4 years since the Battle at Hogwarts. The Ministry captured most of the Death Eaters and sentenced them to Azkaban. What's left of them had gathered together to form the Council. Draco clenched his jaw. The Council was planning on rebelling against the Ministry. With the help of werewolves, giants, and a few reluctant goblins, they think they stand a chance. They are stupid for thinking so, Draco thought as he closed his eyes defiantly.

"Lucius…" Narcissa's voice was trembling, "Lucius, what are we to do…"

"Lock her in the basement for now." Lucius said adamantly, "And deal with her in the morning. Draco will be back any minute now, and we need to discuss what he found out from the Council. Put your wand away!" He whispered urgently as Narcissa took out her wand to bind the stunned girl with ropes, "Unless you have a death wish, you better not hurt the Mudblood girl any more than you already have!"

Draco's eyes shot open.

Mudblood…Potter's best friend…

It can't be, can it?

Suddenly not caring whether his parent found out he'd been listening or out, he stepped out from out of view and hurried towards the living room, his wand raised.

It can't be… His mother can't be that stupid… Capturing the Mudblood girl that Potter and Weasley were both so fond of, for God knows why, would be catastrophic. If the Ministry found out, it would diminish what little chance they had of switching sides… Draco swallowed as his gaze found the foot of a rather skinny girl lying on the floor. She was missing a shoe.

"Draco!" Narcissa exclaimed, her eyes were evasive while she hurriedly attempted to stand between him and the girl, "You're back! I – Your Father and I, we were – "

"Out of the way, Mother." Draco drawled coldly, his eyes moving up to the girl's knees, to the ripped dress robes and the dirty, bloodstained scarf she had on. It seemed like she'd been snagged from an important meeting.

"Draco." Lucius put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from advancing. "It's best if you don't see this." He said shortly and tried to steer his son around.

But it was too late. Through the gap under his father's arm, Draco had caught sight of the brown haired girl lying at his mother's feet, her hair tangled and bushy, her eyes closed and her mouth slightly open.

It was Hermione Granger.

"Take her to the basement, Cissy." Lucius urged, tightening his grip on Draco and pushing him out of the room. Narcissa waved her wand rather hastily at Hermione, making her limp body float a few inches from the floor and towards the basement of the Malfoy Manor.

Stunned with surprise, Draco's stony gray eyes followed Hermione all the way. He couldn't believe it. Granger – Hermione Granger – in his house, as their victim – their hostage…

"What are you going to do with her?" He frowned at his father.

"Never mind that. It's been taken care of." Lucius replied somewhat ambiguously, "What did the Council say? What happened in the meeting?"

If Draco looked old for his age, it was nothing compared to his parents. In the following years after the defeat of the Dark Lord, the Malfoy couple had aged considerably. Lucius Malfoy's lustrous blond hair was now dry and thin. There were lines on his face from worrying, and his eyes were tired and lifeless. Narcissa Malfoy was no better; the crinkles around her eyes were a lot deeper, and she had lost so much weight that her cheeks had sunk in.

Draco finally shifted his gaze to his father's face, though his mind is still set on the unconscious girl, "Next meeting's set here, in our house. And we have to make the Unbreakable Vow to confirm loyalty." He informed tonelessly. "They want to make sure no one else digresses like Avery did."

"Avery?" Lucius asked sharply.

"No one has been able to reach him for days. He wasn't at the meeting today, either. The Council thinks he's fled back to the Ministry."

Frown lines appeared on Lucius's pale face. He looked more tired than he already was, "If he's about to pledge loyalty to the Ministry, then he's going to give them everything he knows about the Council. We have to ensure we reach the Ministry before him. There will be no use of our information if Avery beats us to it."

Draco said nothing.

Lucius's eyes flickered, "And did you say the Unbreakable Vow?" He asked nervously, "Surely not everyone has to participate?"

"They do."

Lucius pursed his lips carefully, deliberating his options. As soon as the war had ended, there had been a target on the Malfoy family's back. What once was a noble name has now been dragged through the mud. Dumbledore's Army didn't trust them, yet neither did the Death Eaters. They couldn't go back to the other side, so they had to fall in alliance with the Council. However, the Council had seen through them as well. Even among Death Eaters, their place was low and humble. The Malfoy Manor was set once again as Headquarters where most of the meetings take place. Even when the Council met elsewhere, they make sure to come by the Manor to ensure that none of the Malfoys had fled.

"Then that determines it." Lucius's hands, now resting on his son's shoulders, start to shake as well, "We have to switch sides as soon as possible."

That was no surprise to Draco. His father had always decided to stand with the stronger side. And given their situation right now, there really wasn't much choice except to go crawling back to the Ministry.

Narcissa had come back upstairs after carefully locking the basement door behind her. She looked at her husband and her son fearfully, awaiting a response. Ignoring her presence, Lucius sighed and tried to make sense of the all the new information. In these circumstances, it almost seemed beneficial that Narcissa had snatched the Mudblood girl. They could spin a story about how Avery captured the Mudblood, and they, the Malfoys, had set out to save her. Hopefully, the Ministry – and Potter – will be so thankful that they have the girl back that they will choose to forgive all sins…

"We have to hand ourselves in to Ministry. Tomorrow. Today, if we can." Lucius said in a commanding voice, "Say we have seen the error of our ways, or that we were under the Imperius Curse. Draco, do you have any influence over Potter? You did go to school with him. Potter has a lot of power over the Ministry these days – "

"I'm not begging Potter for anything." Draco replied flatly, sounding more school boyish than he meant to.

"That pride of yours is no use right now!" Lucius reprimanded, "If we are going to turn ourselves in, we have to grovel!" He paced around the room apprehensively, forming a plan, "We'll have to give names to the Ministry before Avery does– anyone in the Council that we know of – and say that we rescued the Mudblood girl from Avery and was protecting her. We'll say that we were waiting for the perfect moment to escape."

"No." Draco rejected pointblank.

"Draco," Narcissa came to his side and put her arm around his shoulders, which were much narrower than they used to be, "It's risky, but it's doable. Your father and I – We've made it work once before." Her eyes darted to her husband. Although her voice was comforting, her eyes remained fretful.

Draco threw off his mother's arm, "No, I am not keeping that Mudblood hostage!" He said angrily, "And I definitely don't want to grovel at Potter's feet!"

"Put your pride aside, Draco!" Lucius's voice echoed around the vast living room, "Our lives are at stake here!"

Draco rounded on his father furiously, "It's not pride, Father! I'm tired of this! I'm tired of going along with everything you say! It's been nothing but trouble for all of us!" His chest heaved from anger, "I'm not going to any more Council meetings and –"

Suddenly something silver and vapory galloped through the front door of the Malfoy Manor in the shape of a very stout horse. It reached the middle of the living room in mere seconds, where all three Malfoys had fallen silent. When it spoke, the voice of Thorfinn Rowle filled the room, "Avery is dead, no information leaked. The Council is safe. Next meeting on March 30th."

Draco watched as the Patronus became nothing once more. In spite of himself, his spirits rose a little. If Avery was dead, it means that they could still provide valuable information to the Ministry, and that indicated that they still had a sliver of chance of being cleared of the charges against them.

Lucius seemed to share those thoughts as he breathed out a small sigh of relief, "Draco, Cissy – go get some rest. It seems that we have a few days of preparation after all."

.

.

.


	2. Aurors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look inside Harry Potter's life as an Auror in the Ministry of Magic

In the Auror Headquarters of the Ministry of Magic, Harry Potter was briskly leaning over his desk, working on the final paperwork to discharge Stan Shunpike, the pimply conductor on the Knight Bus. Stan was arrested years ago after Lord Voldemort had fallen. Followers or suspected followers were all rounded up and sent to Azkaban. It had taken the Ministry months to figure out which were acting on their own will and which were simply Death Eaters. Even though Harry had served as a core witness in Stan's trial, his discharge had still been dragged out way longer than it should have.

"Harry – " Ron Weasley called from the cubicle on his right, leaning over the boarder that separated them and grinning in a taunting sort of way, "They're back again."

Harry groaned under his breath. The last thing he wanted today was another group of loud, giggling girls in the corridors of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Can you tell them I'm not here?" He whispered desperately to Ron as he subconsciously ducked down, "The Muggle Liaison Office already warned me about them twice, and it's only my third month here!"

"Why would the Muggle Liaison Office care about your fan girls?" Ron asked blankly.

"It's the fiasco they cause at the visiting entrance," Harry explained hurriedly, "You know, the telephone booth? They keep crowding it, and it's drawing a lot of attention from the Muggles. And the Obliviators are busy enough as it is."

In contrast to the crouching Harry, Ron actually straightened up a bit and sneaked a glance at the girls almost hopefully, "Yeah, alright. I'll tell them off." And he strode over to the group of girls crowding near the entrance.

"Move along, now." Harry heard him say in a lazy voice, "Harry Potter's not in today."

"You're Ron Weasley!" One of them exclaimed in a high pitch voice full of excitement.

"Er – yeah. Yeah, I am." Ron sounded hesitant, though pleasantly delighted.

"I know all about you!" The same voice gushed, "I've researched everyone in Dumbledore's Army – and you're Treasurer!"

Ron looked completely bewildered now, "Treasurer?"

"Yeah! Treasurer of SPUKE, the house-elf rights campaign!"

Harry broke into silent laughter as the back of Ron's ears turned scarlet.

"First of all, it's SPEW. Get your facts straight, Valerie." Another voice said rather haughtily, "Second of all, I can see the top of Harry's head from here. I was wondering if he'd give an interview?"

Harry looked up quickly at the girl requesting an interview. His heart sank as he recognized her. It was Romilda Vane. Ever since she had started writing the gossip column of Witch Weekly, it had been all about him. When she couldn't get a quote out of someone he knew, she made them up or focused on his Hogwarts years, once devoting an entire section to how he dated "Loony" Luna Lovegood, now the current girlfriend of Neville Longbottom. "Playboy that he is, Harry Potter has dated many members in Dumbledore's Army. Let's just hope Neville Longbottom does not resent the fact that his girlfriend was Harry's sloppy second." She had written.

Harry glanced guiltily at the cubicle a few feet away from him where Neville Longbottom sat. Neville had failed Stealth and Tracking three times already and was taking the examination again later in the month. Meanwhile, he was interning in the Auror Headquarters and was mainly in charge of distributing tedious paperwork. He was conducting a Permanent Sticking Charm on a photo of him and Luna together on the wall at the moment. Both of them waved cheerily from the photo, beaming.

"He's not here!" Ron snapped. As he strode back to his cubicle, his ears were still red, "Out of all the things I've done… They had to remember the SPEW one… What about being Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team? What about being a part of the Battle of Hogwarts? No – I'm known as Treasurer of SPUKE…"

Harry fought to keep a straight face. He reminded himself that Ron, always being in his shadow but always standing by him loyally all this time, had well deserved his seriousness. "Come on, SPEW is gaining national attention now. It's natural for people to pay more thoughts to its members. Some of those girls may even be supporters in the SPEW conference this morning."

"Come off it." Ron murmured darkly, now poking the parchment in front of him with his wand to get rid of the ink splatters so fiercely that he prodded a hole in the middle.

"Where is Hermione anyway?" Harry changed the subject hastily, "The conference ended ages ago, and she said she'd meet us for lunch."

Ron muttered something that sounded like "changed her mind…ditched again…" and Harry tried not to acknowledge it. He felt very awkward in the entire Ron - Hermione situation. They had briefly dated after the war had ended, but then Hermione had gone into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures while he and Ron did Auror Training. She was so busy that they rarely saw her. Not to mention Auror Training was already taking up almost all of their time. Ron had to take the Concealment and Disguise examination twice as he failed the first time in a mock mission – he had successfully Transfigured himself into a trash can in the middle of the street but coughed and spit out the garbage a nearby Muggle was trying to put in his mouth. Needless to say, he gave the Muggle old lady quite a fright when he Transfigured back so she beat him with her cane.

Their schedule had clashed horribly, and both of Ron and Hermione were under so much pressure that they did nothing but snap at each other in the little time they had together. Slowly, they drifted apart, leaving Harry in the middle, trying to patch up their friendship.

Harry glimpsed at Ron nervously. He was guilt-ridden to say that he missed the times they had in dangerous adventures. He had hoped that Ron and Hermione could still be friends after all that has happened between them, but the reality was that they only hung out together for Harry's sake.

A sudden movement in the air grasped Harry's attention. A few small paper airplanes containing memos from other departments flew into the room. One of them aimed straight for Neville's head and he gave a yelp of surprise and accidently shot flames out of his wand at Harry.

"Sorry, Harry! Aguamenti – " Neville said quickly, shooting a fountain at Harry's head and instantly drenching him in cold water.

"It's no problem…" Harry spluttered and wiped his wet hair from his face. A click from the entrance indicated that Romilda Vane had gotten a photo to capture this moment. Harry groaned. He could almost imagine the headlines in Witch Weekly: "Neville Longbottom, jealous boyfriend of Luna Lovegood, tries to set her ex-boyfriend Harry Potter on fire before drowning him."

Before Harry could wipe his glasses clean, though, Neville had yelled, "Harry – look!" Jamming his glasses back on, Harry looked up to a memo flying straight to him. He jumped up and caught it in his hand. Opening it, his eyes darted back and forth until he took it in.

"Ron…" He said slowly, "Ron, look at this,"

Ron stopped muttering and looked over Harry's shoulders at the piece of parchment. After a while, his eyes widened in surprise, "Hermione's missing?" He asked quietly.

"It says they haven't heard a response from her in hours, and the house-elves confirmed that she left when the conference ended." Harry's heart tightened. This wouldn't be the first time someone in the Order of Phoenix or Dumbledore's Army disappeared. And usually when they did, they either never came back or came back shaken and messed up. If Hermione was taken by the Death Eaters… If she was being tortured right now…

Neville, who was listening in on their conversation, suggested weakly, "Maybe she stopped by somewhere to grab a bite."

Ron had already charged out of his seat. He quickly threw his cloak around him and marched towards the door, where the giggling girls watched in anticipation.

"Ron!" Harry scrambled after him, tugging his Invisibility Cloak along with him.

The girls squealed at the sight of Harry.

"It's Harry Potter – he's there!"

"Do you see his scar?"

"Harry! Can I get your autograph?"

Trying not to sound too annoyed, Harry pushed his way out of them, "Excuse me." He said rather gruffly.

As he chased after Ron, a sight of Hermione lying lifeless on the cold, hard ground went through his mind, and he prayed that it would never be true.

.

.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romilda Vane: She is two years younger than Harry and is quite fond of him. In this story, she writes the gossip column of Witch Weekly, and resembles a young Rita Skeeter in the way that she likes writing made-up rumors about Harry. In clarification, Harry has never dated Luna; that was Romilda's own "version" of what happened.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this.


	3. The Escape

The silver tray trembled a little in Draco's hands. He stared down at it with cold, hard eyes, as if daring it to move again. But it was not the tray that shook, it were his hands.

He didn't want this. Shame, or fear, or whatever else they want to call it. He didn't want to face any of them again. And until this day, he never thought he had to.

As he made his way down to the cellar, his Hawthorn wand lit and held between his long, thin fingers, he wished with all his might that she would still be unconscious. Pushing open the gate carefully, he could see that his prayers were unanswered.

Hermione Granger stood in the middle of the room, gazing at him with pure loathing in her eyes. He said nothing and escaped her burning stare by busying himself with her food tray.

She wasn't the same as the day he last saw her within the battlegrounds in Hogwarts. She seemed…more mature, more confident. There was an air of assertiveness around her.

Before Draco could set down the food tray completely, though, she had pounced on him. Her sudden act of boldness made him cry out in surprise as the bowls tipped over and broke, spilling soup all over the floor. By sheer luck, even though she was a considerable amount shorter than him, Hermione had managed to grab onto Draco's wrist, making him drop the wand. It rolled away into the darkness, and Draco fell to his knees, scrambling to catch it again –

"Get off!" He snarled. Hermione had seized his robes and was trying to get to the wand before him, reaching for it with her slender fingers. He wanted to kick her off, but was afraid of hurting her. The Ministry wouldn't be pleased if she turned up too injured.

At last, Draco's hand closed upon the wand and he raised it up and pointed it directly in her face, "Get off, Granger, or I'll curse you."

Hermione stiffened before finally releasing him and shrinking back to her original state of throwing him dirty looks.

Silently though breathing rapidly, Hermione brushed away a strand of brown hair from her face. She had prepared herself for the worst and was half expecting Draco Malfoy to hex her just for the hell of it, but then she saw him walking silently back to where the tray had fallen.

"Reparo." He murmured at the broken bowl, which fixed itself at once. He then proceeded to use the Replenishing Charm to refill it with soup. When he was finished, he carried the tray back to her and set it down at her feet, although a lot more far away than he did the first time. Draco pulled himself up to his full height and scrutinized Hermione. Her robes were torn, and covered in blood.

"Reparo." He repeated at the cuts on her clothes, which seemed to sew themselves back in mere seconds, "Tergeo." He pointed at her collarbone, cleaning up the blood.

Hermione was too shocked to say – or do – anything. It never occurred to her that Draco Malfoy would offer any act of kindness, especially when she was his prisoner. She had expected him to try to make matters as uncomfortable for her as possible.

"Too bad there's nothing I can do about that hair of yours." Draco forced a sneer, a bit of his old demeanor showing in his pale face.

This did not affront Hermione at all. On the contrary, she was quite relieved that Malfoy was still the way he was.

"It's not going to work, you know." Hermione retorted in a bossy, matter-of-fact kind of way, as if she was explaining the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane.

He looked at her in curiosity, "What's not going to work?"

"What you're planning." She said in contempt. "You're wanted for treachery, Dark activities, using Unforgivable Curses – you name it. And holding me hostage is not going to change any of that."

Draco watched her coldly, "You don't know what you're talking about, Mudblood."

If Hermione wasn't so busy trying to muster all the hate she could for him through her eyes, she would have noticed how tired he looked, how empty his eyes were, or how his usual sneer and insults were nowhere as pointed or powerful as they were before.

.

.

.

**Author's Note:**

> The Council: A group of Death Eaters who managed to escape Azkaban. Core members include Rookwood, Avery Sr., the Carrows, Dolohov, Crabbe Sr., Goyle Sr., Gregory Goyle, Mulciber, Rowle and Yaxley. Other members include giants and several goblins.
> 
> Malfoy Manor: Protected by the Fidelius Charm, which is why none of the Malfoys have been caught by the Ministry.
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this.


End file.
